Valentine's Day 2024

My annual Valentine’s Day video this year was tinged with some bittersweet emotions because of all the change we’ve experienced recently. It’s been a tough year with our dog Wally’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, personal losses and health scares, and a total shake-up of our everyday lives by moving across the country. But there’s no one I’d rather do it with than Brad.

We've moved!

Big news! Brad and I have relocated to Corvallis, OR. For a few years, we’ve been discussing moving to Oregon to be closer to my sister and her family, and a few weeks ago, an opportunity presented itself when Brad got a job here in Corvallis. Thankfully, I was able to keep my job and we drove the 3,000 miles with our dog Wally to get here. My parents also happened to be moving to Oregon, so it all felt fated to happen this way. We are definitely excited for this new adventure.

Ran my first 10k!

In August, my life was feeling overwhelming and I decided to run a 10k to have something to focus on and feel good about. I had never been a runner, but I signed up for the Sleepy Hollow Halloween 10k because I’d always seen the signs and it was one of the many events going on in the area to celebrate Halloween. I started training in August, using the couch to 10k app, and ran the race at the end of October. It was a quick training period, but I fell in love with running. Especially on the beautiful tree-lined trails near the reservoir in Tarrytown. I didn’t break any records during the race and the course was full of hills I hadn’t trained for, but I still made it in the time allotted and I’m proud that I finished. Now just to keep it going! Here are some photos from the race, as well as a video of all of the selfies I took while I was training.

First time back in the UK in 6 years

Brad and I got invited to his cousin’s wedding in Brighton, UK and decided to make it into a full trip - stopping in London, Bath, Cardiff and ending our trip in Brighton. We were there during an unexpected heat wave which brought some challenges, but we still had a great time! It was really great to reconnect with my old roommate Olga who’d just become a UK citizen (she’s originally from Greece) and to revisit all my old stomping grounds in Cardiff. Took some film photos, which I’ll share here.

Annual Valentine's Day Video for Brad

Every year I make a video for Brad that chronicles our year together as a visual Valentine. This year I had the idea to do a quick cut of the Super 8 footage of our wedding using a Martin Rev song (“I Heard Your Name”) that I had listened to throughout or wedding/honeymoon trip. I cut it all together and was very pleased with how it came out, but then later realized one of the reasons I love the videos we make for each other every year is the way they encapsulate all of the things we did together that year. So after finishing the Super 8 cut, I also did an additional cut with footage from the whole year set to the song “Valentine” by Lala Lala and Grapetooth. I’ve included both cuts here.

My Wedding Video

Brad and I got married in Las Vegas in October! As visual people, we both had a lot of ideas for our wedding video. Brad hired his friend Jacob to film the ceremony for us on Super 8 and we set up multiple digital cameras in the chapel. We got married in the famous Little White Wedding Chapel with an Elvis impersonator who serenaded us with “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “Viva Las Vegas”. After the wedding we took a trip to Disneyland in California with my family and then we embarked on a solo adventure to New Mexico to explore Santa Fe, Roswell, and Albuquerque. I wanted one video that included everything; but I do plan on doing a shorter version eventually (or who knows, maybe never!). But I made this video very self-indulgent because ultimately it was for our memories. I’m still proud of how it came out and figured I’d share the result here.

Experimental Film - Shades

This is a project I worked on for 8 years - mostly in collecting voicemails. The idea was in my head but I never sat down and created it. I can’t say I’m as proud of it as I’d like to be, but perhaps I will revisit it at some point.

Early Days - My new nephew Parker

My nephew Parker was born a few weeks ago. I flew out to see him a week after he was born and filmed some moments with my family. When I got back I cut this video together documenting his early days.

Super 8

Way back in 2019, my parent’s friend was at an estate sale and saw a super 8 camera and projector and asked if I wanted them. I didn’t know if the camera would work even though the motor was running and the light meter seemed to work. I bought one of those Pro8mm kits to test it out and then Covid hit and I moved to a new apartment and since I didn’t go anywhere or have anything to film, I forgot about it in my storage unit. I love shooting 16mm film with my bolex, but I’d always been curious about super 8. Recently, remembering the kit and wanting to try it out, I filmed some footage around some trails by my house. I was happy to find that it worked! Here are a few of my favorite clips from the footage that I strung together.

Drawing

I always admired people who could draw, but never really tried myself. Every time I would start drawing, I would criticize it and give up; telling myself I didn’t have the talent. Lately I decided to give it a try. With some help from YouTube, I’ve made some progress. Still not amazing but I’m continuing to practice.

Washington D.C. Trip

For my fiancé Brad’s birthday this year we took a trip to Washington D.C. so he could see some friends and visit some of his old haunts. I brought along my new camera and cut together this trip video.

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For my birthday this year, my sister and her husband surprised me by flying in from Portland, Oregon. It was a really lovely birthday spent with family. My amazing fiancé Brad got me a new camera that I wanted and I used it to create a video diary of the day.

Video Diaries - A Revival

I’ve started to take some morning walks to start my day and it’s been life changing. It clears my head and helps me feel energized to start my day. It’s also had another positive effect, it’s inspired me to continue making new video diaries.

Here are two from my morning walks:

And here is one I made during a June weekend reuniting with my family at my cousin’s graduation party post-vaccine.

Eleanor & Christian's Wedding

My sister and her husband had a COVID wedding that neither of their families could attend in person, but we were able to watch via zoom. They recorded the zoom and had one extra camera setup to remember the event. Knowing that she wanted me to make them a wedding video, Eleanor filmed a few clips throughout the day and their honeymoon. I knew that Eleanor didn’t want a wedding video like many that are made today with slow motion shots and dramatic music, so I didn’t follow a lot of cliches. I also knew that they are both very connected to their families, so I tried to find ways to highlight the families where it made sense. This is the result:

The muse has been silent

I don’t know if it’s struggling through the covid pandemic or the many stresses of this year, but I’ve felt flat and uninspired recently. At times I’ve compared it to a flower that someone has burnt to the stem that can’t find a way to grow again. It’s been really hard for me because I feel like when I’m not creative, I’m not myself. I’m not sure how I am going to solve it, but I want to find my path back, especially so I don’t let 10 year old Olivia down.

Valentine's Day 2021

Every year I make a video for my boyfriend Brad chronicling our year together. This was one of the hardest ones yet because we didn’t go anywhere. I am still pleased with the outcome.

Thanksgiving 2020

I’ve had a really hard time being inspired lately. I’ve been trying a few things to get it back, but I did manage to go back to my original video diaries plan with this video.